Surveys reveal that in recent years Romanians have become
\nincreasingly careful about the food they eat. They check the labels on food
\npackages and are often ready to pay more for healthier food. People are aware
\nthat a growing number of producers add all sorts of unhealthy substances to
\ntheir foodstuffs so that their products should sell better. So what and how we
\neat is a hot topic in Romania today. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Despite food experts warning people to be careful about
\nthe food they buy and despite the many checks conducted by the authorities, the
\nproblems are far from being solved. One third of the checks carried out by the
\nconsumer protection body at produce markets and shops are the result of the complaints
\nmade by consumers. More than 7,000 such complaints were registered last year
\nalone. Here’s what this young woman from Bucharest told us:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Unfortunately,
\nI don’t think the food we buy is quite okay. The content is not the same with
\nwhat you read on the label, you often read one thing on the label, and find
\nsomething else inside. Many food additives are also used and I read that they
\nare dangerous for our health and create dependency. Fruit is imported and
\nalmost tasteless, and no longer tastes like the fruit we used to eat when we
\nwere children. As for meat, it depends where you buy it. In most cases, it is
\nfull of spices to conceal the colour of old meat. If you buy a whole chicken,
\nyou will sometimes notice that its bones break very easily because of the way
\nthey reared, through intensive farming, not to mention that they contain lots
\nof hormones.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Another
\nperson we interviewed on the street said she would rather buy her food straight
\nfrom farmers if she had this option: <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
I
\nhave my doubts sometimes. I’m more interested into organic food and countryside
\nproducts but if that’s not available I don’t have a choice, I have to buy it
\nfrom the shops. Cheese, for example, contains all kind of powder. I think most
\nof the products we buy are genetically modified. But I have no choice, do I? <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
A
\nsurvey conducted by Gfk Romania has revealed that seven out of ten Romanians
\nbelieve a healthy lifestyle means eating fruit and vegetables. Unprocessed food
\nis also associated with healthy living. Indeed, more and more Romanians are
\ndrawn to a vegetarian diet. However, modern food industry has been going
\nthrough a series of changes, says the president of the Consumer Protection
\nAssociation Costel Stanciu:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Counterfeiting
\nin the Romanian food industry appeared in the 1990s, more precisely after 1998,
\nwhen the food production standards that had been in place until then became
\noptional. As they were no longer required to comply with certain industry
\nstandards, food producers created their own standards. There were some who
\ncontinued to use healthy recipes, but their products did not sell very well and
\neither went bankrupt or they, too, started counterfeiting the food.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Wholemeal
\nbread is the most counterfeited product in Romania. Instead of ground wheat, it
\ncontains banned colouring agents. A recent survey conducted by the Consumer
\nProtection Association has revealed that 6% of the amount of sliced bread sold
\nin Romania is not prepared according to the traditional recipe. With 97 kg per
\nperson, Romanians are the largest consumers of bread in Europe. Costel Stanciu
\ntells us more: <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Counterfeiters
\nreplace wheat flour with flour of lower quality, such as bean flower and soy
\nflour, and add lots of unsuitable additives. In the sample of bread we checked
\nwe found traces of cysteine, thickening agents and preservatives. We also found
\npalm oil and margarine that have nothing to do with the traditional bread
\nrecipe. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The
\nAgriculture Ministry has admitted that half of the domestic bread production is
\nnot subject to taxation so bread quality and safety cannot be controlled. Apart
\nfrom a product’s expiry date, Romanians mostly check the list of food additives
\non the label of food packages, but in the end their decision to buy a product
\nis based on its price rather than its quality. The president of the Trade
\nUnions Federation in the Food Industry Dragos Frumosu, tells us more: <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
There
\nare the big companies whose products comply with all quality, health and safety
\nstandards, but there are also producers that do not respect the recipes
\nentirely and are more interested in making a profit. What we, consumers, can do
\nis not to buy the products that do not comply with the stated recipes and
\nproduct quality standards. Some processed meat producers told me they are
\nsometimes asked to make products that shouldn’t exceed a certain cost. Keeping
\nthe costs down means producers will not be able to respect a certain recipe and
\nthat they have to put more fat and less meat in the product. This product will
\nbe less healthy. What I find increasingly worrying is seeing products’
\nshelf-life is becoming longer and longer. This is possible because of the use
\nof food additives, which, up to a certain amount, are not harmful to people’s
\nhealth. We must be aware, however, that we find these additives not only in
\nprocessed meat, but also in bread and sweets. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Given that for
\n75% of Romanians price is the only criterion used when buy food and that fast
\nfood is the number one choice for many of the people with low and medium
\nincomes, it’s no surprise that a quarter of Romania’s adult population and 10%
\nof its children suffer from obesity. <\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to recent polls, Romanians have become increasingly careful about the food they eat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":68304,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42997],"tags":[36546,30375,19347],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-141625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society-today","tag-food","tag-health","tag-romania"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n